This chapter was fun to write...until the end, but that's another tale all together. Enjoy! OOPS! Forgot! A VERY BIG THANK YOU GOES OUT TO AQUA LION for being quite the inspiration and cheerleader for some of the events in this chapter!
I make no claims to Voltron or any WEP characters.
"Dammit, Pidge, are you in or out?" Lance growled, staring at the silent and studious Green Lion pilot, who was intently staring at his cards as Stereolactic's greatest hits played in the background.
Pidge blinked, arching one eyebrow over his contoured glasses, his eyes moving from his cards to Lance's face. He held his cards in one hand while his other casually split his stack of chips into two piles and shuffling them back into one. "Can I not study my cards for a few moments in peace, Lance?"
Lance's jaw dropped, realizing what Pidge was actually doing. "You brat. Studying your cards is one thing, you're counting cards!"
Pidge stopped shuffling his chips and lowered his cards, a wounded look on his face. "But, it is an entirely legitimate strategy!"
"Yeah and it's entirely illegal!"
"Only if you get CAUGHT! And all YOU have to do to avoid it is SHUFFLE MORE!"
Lance folded his cards and leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "This is why I hate playing poker with you, Pidge."
Pidge shot him his most angelic smile. "Why, Lance, whatever do you mean?"
Hunk dropped into his seat across from Pidge, a fresh bowl of popcorn on the table between him and Lance. "Pidgey, you haven't bet yet? What are you waiting on? Christmas?"
"For people to stop DISTRACTING me!" he declared. He suddenly folded his cards. "Fold."
"About time," Lance muttered. "Five," he stated, tossing a chip into the center of the table.
Hunk glanced at his cards briefly. "Raise. Ten," he stated, tossing a different colored chip out.
"Fearless?" Lance asked, looking across the table at Keith.
Keith studied his hand, frowning. "I think I'll fold and get a drink," he stated, folding his cards and getting up. "You need another one?" he asked.
"Yeah, thanks," Lance answered. He looked at Hunk, studying his expression. "All right, big guy. I call," he stated, and matched the bet. "What do you got?"
"Full house. Aces over tens," Hunk answered with a grin.
"Damn," Lance muttered, shaking his head, flipping over his cards. "I had a flush."
Hunk laughed and pulled the pot towards him. "It happens, Lance. So, where are the ladies? Thought they were coming tonight," he stated.
"Yeah, they'll be here. They said they had something to discuss real quick and to go ahead and get started without them, so here we are," Lance answered. "But, you know how some women can be. Take forever."
Keith reached across the table, setting a cold beer bottle in front of Lance, puzzlement in his blue eyes. "I don't know, Lance. Some women can be very prompt." He sat down and took a long pull from his beer.
"I have yet to meet one like that," Lance answered. "Though, being married, not really looking to meet one like that, either, so…" He shrugged.
Keith grinned as the door opened and Allura and Duvessa walked in. Both were dressed casually. Allura wore a lightweight blue sundress and Duvessa wore black slacks and a green silk blouse. Neither of them had their crowns on.
"Hey, there you are. We were just wondering what was taking the two of you so long," Lance stated. "Pull up a chair."
Allura grabbed a chair and slid it up to the table between her husband and Hunk.
Duvessa took a chair and moved towards the table.
Keith stood and took the chair from her, placing it between his own and Pidge's.
Duvessa blushed. "Thank you," she murmured.
He nodded. "You're welcome."
"So, Lance, are you ready to get beaten at your own game?" Allura asked, a challenging sparkle in her emerald eyes.
"Oh, that's fighting talk right there," Lance stated as he shuffled the cards. He glared at Pidge. "But, we all need to be careful. Pidge is trying to count cards."
"I thought it would be hard to count cards if you're playing five card Tevleth," Duvessa stated. "Unless you have the cards marked somehow."
Pidge blinked and looked at her. "We haven't been playing five card Tevleth. We've been playing five card draw poker. Though, I think Lance will be changing it up to seven card stud now."
"Oh? I thought Tevleth was the same as the Terran poker game that we've been playing," she murmured with a nod. "Though counting cards has always been frowned upon in any game. Not to say that it isn't done, just that it is frowned upon."
Pidge smirked at Lance and stuck his tongue out at him. "See. Frowned upon, but still done."
Allura giggled at their banter. "So, what is the ante?" she asked.
"Five," Lance answered, tossing in a chip. He set the deck of cards down in front of Pidge. "Cut."
Pidge frowned, but split the deck in half.
Lance picked it up, putting the cards that had been on the top onto the bottom. "Ok. Seven card stud. Pot's right. Let's play," he stated and dealt the first two cards. "Ally, bet is to you," he stated.
Allura studied her cards briefly, then put in a chip. "Five."
"Eh, not sure about that, but still five cards to go," Hunk muttered, putting in his five.
Keith and Duvessa were silent as they added their chips.
Pidge arched an eyebrow as he dropped his chip into the pile. "This should be more interesting," he muttered.
Lance dealt the next few cards, the pot growing larger.
Allura frowned. "I fold," she stated, flipping her cards over.
"Me, too," Hunk stated.
Keith tossed in a chip.
Duvessa slowly nodded. "Raise," she murmured, tossing in a higher chip.
Pidge looked at her, then Keith. "Huh," he muttered. He looked at his cards one last time. "I'm out."
"Yeah, me, too. Looks like it's just Fearless and Vessa," Lance stated, folding his cards and picking up the dealing cards.
Keith looked over at Duvessa, who looked back at him. He made a thoughtful face.
She smiled sweetly.
His gaze went cunning, he nodded and matched her bet.
"All right, last card, you two," Lance stated, dealing them their last card.
Keith silently tossed in a higher chip.
Duvessa matched him, her blue eyes intense. "Call," she murmured.
Keith turned over his cards. "Straight." He looked at her, expectantly.
Slowly, she showed her cards. "I believe I win," she stated, showing a full house.
Keith shook his head, grinning. "Yeah, you do."
Lance laughed. "I should have warned you, Keith. She's got a mean poker face. She's almost as hard to read as you are."
"Well, playing Tevleth with a bunch of nobles, you kind of had to learn to keep a straight face," she stated as she pulled the pile of chips to herself.
"I thought Tevleth was a nobleman's game," Allura stated.
"It was. However, my father decided that if I was going to rule Arus, seemingly alone, I would need to know how to play," Duvessa answered as Lance passed the cards to Allura to have her deal.
Allura shuffled and dealt the next hand, Pidge winning it.
"Cheater," Lance teased.
"Am not. Legitimate strategy. Not to mention half our cards are face up on the table," Pidge stated. "It's just betting on the odds…"
Hunk laughed and tossed a piece of popcorn at Pidge. "We know, little buddy. He's just giving you a hard time," he stated, taking the deck of cards from Allura. "So, shall we switch it up a little?"
"You're dealing. Knock yourself out," Lance stated.
"Good. Texas Hold-em," he stated. He looked to Duvessa. "It's that weird one where you only get two hands and all those cards in the middle that everyone plays off of."
Duvessa nodded. "I remember from last time, Hunk, but thank you for the reminder."
Hunk beamed. "No problem," he stated and dealt after everyone put in their antes.
They all sat and played for hours, telling stories, reliving memories.
Keith smiled, listening to the tales, some he remembered, others he didn't, but he still enjoyed hearing them.
Hunk pulled in the last pot of the night. "Well, thank you all kindly," he stated with a huge smile. "Been nice doing business with you."
Allura laughed as Lance sulked a bit. "It was a fun night," she agreed. She looked to her husband. "Want to go for a walk in the gardens?"
Lance nodded. "Sure, love," he answered, his mood lightening instantly. "We'll see all of you tomorrow," he stated as he cleaned up his and Allura's things, then left.
Duvessa tidied up her mess, helping put the cards and chips away. "It was a fun night," she stated.
"Sure was," Hunk agreed as he rinsed out the popcorn bowl he'd used.
Keith was quiet as he helped Duvessa and Pidge sort the plastic chips into their case.
"You're quiet, Keith," Pidge stated, looking over at him as he slid a stack of chips into a slot. "You all right?"
Keith nodded. "Yes, I'm fine, Pidge. Just kind of wishing I remembered some of the things you all were talking about tonight. I mean, I remember most of the old stories from when we were in the Academy, but…"
Hunk dried the bowl. "Yeah, well, maybe having heard about some of them will help bring them to the surface, right?"
Keith nodded. "One can hope," he agreed as he slid the last of the poker chips into the case, closing it.
Duvessa closed the card box and stood picking up the chip case and taking it and the cards to the cupboard where they were stored.
Pidge and Hunk looked at each other. "Well, you two, we had fun tonight," Pidge stated, smiling at them. "We'll see you tomorrow."
Duvessa smiled and looked at them. "All right. Good night," she stated.
Keith nodded. "Night, guys."
Hunk and Pidge headed out whispering to each other.
Duvessa moved her chair back to it's place. "Well, I hope you had fun, Keith," she stated.
"I did," he admitted, watching her. "Thank you for letting me know about this."
She nodded. "Well, you're still a member of the team. It wouldn't have been right for you to have been left out."
He nodded back. "Yeah," he agreed. He waved to the door. "Well, I guess we should probably get out of here and head for bed."
Duvessa blushed, belatedly realizing they were alone. "Um, yes," she agreed. She moved towards the door.
"Duvessa," Keith murmured softly.
She stopped and looked at him. "Yes, Keith?"
He stepped closer to her. "Thank you for taking me with you on patrol yesterday. I-I needed that."
She smiled and nodded. "You're welcome. I was hoping that perhaps being back in a routine would help you with your memories," she confessed. "If Gorma clears you for duty, I'd be more than willing to even let you fly."
Keith smiled. "Yeah, he kind of nipped that one. He's concerned. He doesn't seem to think there is anything wrong with my short term memory, but he thought for sure something would have started to come back to me."
"Well, you've only been out of stasis about a week now. Surely these things take time," she stated.
"Yeah, I would think so, but I don't know. Guess doctors know best, right?"
She frowned, but nodded. "I suppose," she agreed. She looked away from him. "If I hadn't been so naive that night, none of this would have happened," she stated, moving to the windows, staring down into the dimly lit gardens.
Keith watched her. "You blame yourself."
"Every damn day," she answered. "You told me not to blame myself, but I should have known. Randall always made me feel uncomfortable around him. That should have been my cue to keep away from him, but he was relentless and annoying. Honestly, who discusses peace treaties at a wedding reception?"
"Politicians," Keith answered, stopping beside her. He looked at her. "What happened that night?"
She looked up at him. "You were…" She stopped and blushed, shaking her head. "Apologies. Sometimes it is so hard for me to remember you're missing your memories." She looked back outside. "Randall waited until you had gone to refill our drinks before coming up to the table to ask me for a dance to discuss some detail of the treaty. Foolishly, I believed him. We danced and he started making small talk, which confused me since he had wanted to discuss the treaty. Then he made some remark about how hot it was in the ballroom and if we could talk outside. I went with him, right into his trap. I apparently was the payment Randall requested for having gotten Sylvan out of prison on Terra for Lotor." She glared at the glass. "You and I…had…a telepathic link. You heard me, knew I was in trouble. You came to help me and we fought off Randall's guards and Lotor's."
"Lotor was there? In the gardens?"
Duvessa nodded, a shine of tears in her eyes. "I don't know how he and Maahox managed to slip past all of our defenses, but yes, they were there. They collected Sylvan, Randall tried to collect me… And before Maahox left, he shot you with something and gave you that damned virus."
Keith nodded, her story matching to what he'd been able to piece together from his letters to himself and the security footage he'd seen. "Thank you."
She looked up at him, surprised. "For?"
"Telling me that," he answered. "I'll go. See you tomorrow," he whispered. He nodded to her, then left.
Duvessa stood there, staring at the door for a few minutes after he'd left. She slowly turned her eyes back to the glass, a single tear sliding down her cheek. She angrily wiped it away before turning and heading to her room.
